"Okay! I will forgive you since you are asking so politely. But I'm going to keep Secretary Kim's cookies for myself. He will only receive the gift card, nothing more."

Kaiden said as he pulled away from the hug a little to look at his little angel.

A smile bloomed on Emily's lips at his words but she immediately nodded her head in acceptance of his demand.

"Alright! You can do as you wish." She told him before she took out her phone to look at the time.

"I think we should leave now. Shadow will be waiting." She said as she again stuffed the phone back in her jeans pocket.

"Alright! Let me carry these." Kaiden did not try to stall for more time and immediately agreed. He picked up the gift boxes and the parcel and followed Emily out of the office.

As soon as she stepped out of the building, the chilly weather welcomed her, making her immediately yearn for warmth.

"You finally remembered to return."

Shadow's voice entered her ears and when her eyes focused on the tall handsome man with amber eyes, she found him staring at Kaiden.

"Thanks."

Kaiden spoke from beside her, making her look at him in puzzlement.

The two men stared at each other as if both of them were either talking through their eyes or were probably trying to intimidate each other.

"Nevermind. I was just too free to anything." Shadow muttered in response after a few moments of silence as he took out a big overcoat from the back seat of the car and started walking towards her.

"You can put them in the car." Her bodyguard told the other man before he turned his entire focus on her.

Emily watched Kaiden moving towards their car with the gift boxes in his arms. She did not miss the sigh that he let out before walking away.

Her attention was pulled away from the silver-haired man when Shadow wrapped the coat over her shoulders and secured her in a warm cocoon.

"Don't freeze yourself." He mumbled in a low voice as he fixed the collar of the coat before stepping back.

"We should return to the mansion. The weather is about to change." He informed her as he turned towards the car and started walking.

"Enjoy your holidays. And remember about the present." Kaiden reminded her as he opened the passenger side door for her.

"En! I will." Emily nodded her head in reply before she slipped inside the car.

She watched Kaiden's figure becoming smaller and smaller as their car made its way towards the main gates of the Supernatural Academy.

"A snowstorm?" Emily asked her bodyguard as she accepted the cup of coffee that he offered her.

"A blizzard."

"Really? The weather was not looking that bad when we..."

Emily trailed off as her eyes finally landed on the sky. The temperature had dropped since the morning and the wind was no longer calm.

"We will reach home before that. Right?" She asked Shadow in a worried voice as she looked at the little snowflakes that had started to pour down from the sky.

"Don't worry," Shadow replied as he kept his attention on the road. Emily just let out a small sigh as she quieted down to let him focus on driving.

By the time the two of them finally arrived at the Alessandro Mansion, the snowfall had become stronger and the wind only added energy to the chill that was threatening to freeze her.

While Shadow went to park the car in the underground parking area, Emily made her way towards the private elevator that was installed on the ground level.

The elevator was only used on special or urgent occasions like the current one. There was no way she would be climbing all those stairs in such a heavy snowfall.

It took only a few moments before she found herself entering the mansion from the back door of the kitchen.

The house welcomed her with the warmth and aroma of various dishes that were being prepared in the kitchen.

It was almost ten past noon and she knew that they soon would be having a warm family lunch.

After asking Mrs. Harris about Domenic's whereabouts, she made her way towards his study on the third floor.

Ever since her brothers opened up about the secrets of the supernatural world and all, she was no longer restricted to enter any area of the entire mansion.

However, Emily rarely went anywhere near the third floor. She just wanted to stay away from all the business issues and works that were handled on the third floor.

Her only favorite place there was the library and she never took advantage of her brothers' trust in her by venturing into the office area.

She shook her hair to get rid of the snow before she knocked on the door of Domenic's study.

"Come in!"

She heard her brother's voice allowing her to enter. She opened the door and stepped inside.

Her guardian was sitting on the sofa next to the fireplace. A small fire was burning in it which immediately pulled her towards it.

"You are back. Are you feeling cold?" Domenic asked as he noticed her flushed cheeks and the snow that was still covering her coat and hair.

Emily shook her head as she allowed her brother to take off both of her coats. He even pulled her hair in a loose ponytail before he made her sit down near the fireplace and offered a cup of warm water.

"I'm alright, Nick." She told him with a soft chuckle as she found his actions filling her heart with warmth.

"Here you are."

She turned her head towards the door to look at Simon who had entered the room with a parcel in his hands. It was the same parcel that she collected from the Academy.

"Your bodyguard is lucky that he brought you back home before the storm turned into a blizzard," Simon told her as he placed the parcel on the desk sitting beside the fireplace.

"He's perfect in his job. Stop doubting him." Emily defended her bodyguard immediately as she looked at her brother with challenging eyes.

"Really?" Simon asked her with one of his eyebrows arched high as he waited for her answer. She could tell that his question was serious. He really wanted to know her answer.

She smiled softly at her brother as she nodded her head.

"Really. Give him a chance. He's not a bad person."

Simon looked at her in silence for a few seconds before he slowly nodded his head in reply to her advice.

"Alright! If you really trust him that much, I'll give him a chance to prove himself."

He rubbed her head softly before he gave Domenic a nod and walked out of the study.

"Why do you trust him so much? It has only been a short time since he joined us. How can you say that he does not have any bad intentions?"

Domenic's question made Emily pause as she looked at her brother with blank eyes. Her mind pondered on his question as she tried to find the exact reason for which she trusted Shadow to such a stupid level.

"Probably my answer will sound stupid......His first impression was way better than anyone else I've met in my life. He was the one who saved Daniel's life that day. After that day, you assigned him as my bodyguard. He had dozens of chances when I was left alone with him. If he really wanted to hurt me, he would have already done it by now. And also because...... I have a feeling that he does not want to hurt me."

The two of them were silent for the next few minutes as Domenic observed his little sister. Her expressions told him that she was telling him the truth.

"Your instincts are one of your most powerful weapons, Emily. If you want my advice - I'll tell you to always listen to your instincts. They will probably guide you towards the right path."

Domenic's words made Emily look at her brother with a small smile on her lips as she nodded her head in response.

Her eyes landed on the parcel and it made her ask the question that she wanted to ask ever since he told her to pick the parcel from the Academy.

"What is it? Something important?"

She knew that if he did not want to reveal anything about the parcel, then he would just ignore her question.

She had no problem with that. It was just that she was taking her chance with the question. Either she would get an answer or she won't.

Domenic picked up the parcel and placed it in his lap as his hands lightly arrested the top of the box.

He let out a small sigh before he turned his attention towards her as he decided to answer her question.

"Yeah, it's something important. It's a present for you.......from Dad."